Moorpark Police Department Releases “Don’t Get Scammed! Just Stop and Think” Campaign

Scams are becoming an increasingly alarming problem in the City of Moorpark and surrounding county areas. Over the past several weeks, numerous residents have reported being victims of scams and have collectively lost tens of thousands of dollars. The most common scams being reported are the Romance Scam, the Utility Company Scam, the Puppy Scam, the IRS Scam, and the Account Verification Scam. Unfortunately, there are numerous other types of scams out there, so beware!

In an effort to educate our residents about the scams affecting our community, the Moorpark Police Department has started the “Don’t Get Scammed! Just Stop and Think” campaign.

Through a series of informative articles and real-life scam stories posted to Moorpark Police Department’s Nextdoor and Twitter accounts, we are attempting to reach as many of our residents as possible.

Here are a few tips to help keep you from getting scammed:

• If a deal seems too good to be true, it is.
• If someone unexpectedly contacts you for whatever reason and instructs you to pay for a bill, good, service, bail, hospital bill, etc. by gift card, phone app, wiring money, or providing bank account info, it’s probably a scam. If they make it sound extremely urgent and that you must immediately pay, it’s definitely a scam.
• Scammers can easily “spoof” phone numbers so that the name and number that display on your caller ID appear to be a legitimate company name and phone number. If someone calls you claiming to be from a legitimate company and asks you for personal or account information, it’s probably a scam. Hang up the phone, obtain a legitimate number for the company by checking their website or looking on your bill, and call that number. 
• If someone, whether it’s your online boyfriend/girlfriend, your employer that hired you online without ever meeting you, a Facebook acquaintance, etc. tells you they are sending you a check, and instruct you to deposit the check into your account, keep some of the money for yourself, then forward the remainder of the money to a third party, it’s a scam.
• Do not send money to your online boyfriend/girlfriend, no matter how much they claim to love you, and no matter how long you’ve been in a “relationship” with them. If you’ve never met them, or at least FaceTimed them, it’s probably a scam.

To read the series of “Don’t Get Scammed! Just Stop and Think” articles, join the Moorpark Police Department on our online neighborhood watch program at Nextdoor.com or follow us on Twitter @MoorparkSheriff. The articles contain several other tips and scams not listed here.

If you would like to hear a recording of the most recent scams reported by Moorpark residents, call the Moorpark Police Department Fraud Hotline at (805) 299-1566. If you are tempted to send money or provide personal information to someone you do not know, Just Stop and Think.

If you’re not sure if it’s a scam, please call the Moorpark Police Department for advice at (805) 532-2700.

If you have been subject to an online scam, whether you fell for it or not, you can report it to ic3.gov, which is the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

If you’d like a flyer explaining further details on the most common scams, you can pick one up at the Moorpark Police Department during normal business hours. We also have a chart explaining the most common scams targeting the elderly and how to prevent them. These charts can be useful for your elderly family members, friends, and neighbors.

Remember, don’t get scammed! Just stop and think.

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